Malawi
Collaborative early warning, save lives
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"... GEOGLOWS has extended warning lead time from hours to days"
-Samuel Gama
Africa Context
Africa faces major challenges in internet access and usage, including high costs, poor infrastructure, and low digital literacy. Only 25% of the African population uses the internet regularly, with 1GB of data costing 9% of their monthly income. Africa still has the world's most expensive mobile data plans, and an infrastructure deficit, particularly in energy, affects service provision and usage. Therefore, having a hydrological model like GEOGLOWS that provides valuable information for decision-makers is important in places like Africa.
As part of the activities of the Servir-Africa program operated by the RCMRD, GEOGLOWS ECMWF Streamflow Services global hydrological model has been implemented in:
Malawi
Malawi
Malawi experienced severe flooding due to Cyclone Ana in January 2022. Over 193,000 households were affected and croplands were destroyed, exacerbating food insecurity and taking a toll on their main sources of wealth and food.
GEOGLOWS plays a part in creating CBFEWS
A hybrid flood forecasting system was established with the help of the UNDP and various organizations to increase the warning lead time from hours to 15 days. The system uses telemetry data and the GEOGLOWS-ECMWF streamflow forecast and has been implemented in collaboration with local institutions, including the Malawi Red Cross Society.
The system called Community Based Flood Early Warning System (CBFEWS) has improved community preparedness and reduced flood disaster risk. CBFEWS provides flood early warnings through alarm sirens and SMS in communities within floodplains. The warnings are verified by community caretakers and triggered by pre-set thresholds.
The hybrid system was developed and put into operation by RCMRD, utilizing telemetric data from 21 rivers and the bias-correction GEOGLOWS-ECMWF streamflow forecast for the eight flood-prone regions.
CBFEWS in Malawi
During the arrival of Cyclone Ana (January 2022), the GEOGLOWS-ECMWF forecast accurately predicted peak flows on the Phalombe River.
Recorded/verified by water level sensors on the same day.
As a result, Malawi Red Cross was alerted via SMS and email for emergency coordination and response
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